Warburton's _Shakespeare_ appeared in 1747, his _Pope_ in 1751. It cannot be said that either poet has cause to be grateful to his commentator. Of his _Shakespeare_ a few words may be appropriately said here. In this pretentious and untrustworthy edition, Warburton accuses Theobald of plagiarism, treats him with contempt, and then uses his text to print from. In his Preface he declares that his own Notes 'take in the whole compass of Criticism,' and he professes to restore the poet's genuine Text. Yet, as the editors of the _Cambridge Shakespeare_ observe, there is no trace, so far as they have discovered, 'of his having collated for himself either the earlier Folios or any of the Quartos.' Warburton professed to observe the severe canons of literal criticism, and this suggested the title to Thomas Edwards of a volume in which the critic's editorial pretensions are attacked with some humour and much justice.[68] We may add that Bishop Hurd, Warburton's most intimate friend, edited his works in seven volumes (1788), and six years later, by way of preface to a new edition, published an _Account of the Life, Writings, and Character of the Author_. FOOTNOTES: [57] Readers who remember Mr. Browning's estimate of 'sage Mandeville' in his _Parleyings with Certain Persons_ may deem this criticism unjust; but the De Mandeville who speaks in that poem is the creation of the poet's imagination, or rather he is Mr. Browning himself. [58] _Bolingbroke: a Historical Study_, p. 133. By J. Churton Collins. [59] _Walpole_, p. 79. By John Morley. Macmillan. [60] _Works of George Berkeley._ Edited by George Sampson. With introduction by the Rt. Hon. Arthur J. Balfour, M.P. Vol. i., p. xxxi (London, 1897). [61] _An Essay on Truth_, 2nd edit., p. 298. 1771. [62] _Blackwood's Magazine_, June, 1842. [63] Sir James Macintosh, _Encyclopædia Britannica_. [64] _The English Church and its Bishops._ By Charles J. Abbey. Vol. i., p. 236. [65] See p. 194. [66] _The Life and Opinions of the Rev. William Law, M.A._ By J. H. Overton, M.A. P. 243. [67] Middleton's _Miscellaneous Works_, vol. i., p. 402. [68] The first edition of Edwards's work was entitled _Supplement_ to Mr. Warburton's edition of _Shakespeare_, 1747. The third edition (1750) was called _The Canons of Criticism and Glossary_ by Thomas Edwards. Of this volume seven editions were published. Edwards, who was born in 1699, died in 1757. INDEX OF MINOR POETS AND PROSE WRITERS. JOHN ARMSTRONG (1709-1779), a Scotchman by birth, practised in London as a physician after some surgical experience in the navy. Believing any subject suitable for poetry, he wrote in blank verse, reminding one of Thomson, _The Art of Preserving Health_ (1744), a poem containing some powerful passages, and many which are better fitted for a medical treatise than for poetry. An earlier and licentious poem _The Economy of Love_, which injured him in his profession, was 'revised and corrected by the author' in 1768.